by Congressional Quarterly

egotiations between the House and Senate on a supplemental war-spending measure could drag on past the Memorial Day recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday. Further negotiations with the Senate over a number of provisions — including a plan to pay for an expanded veterans’ education benefit by imposing a tax surcharge on wealthy Americans — will be necessary before any bill could reach the president. The legislation is scheduled for House floor action Thursday. Pelosi, D-Calif., said she did not regard Memorial Day as a fixed deadline for sending a finished bill to President Bush. “We do what we do here. We’ll see what kind of response it gets,” Pelosi said. “We would like to finish by Memorial Day. But there is time, in terms of meeting the needs of the troops.” Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer , D-Md., said, however, that June 15 “or something of that nature,” was the likely deadline. Pelosi and other Democratic leaders said they were confident the measure would win strong support in the party now that the concerns of conservative Blue Dog Democrats have been assuaged. Democrats have settled on a plan that would provide the $183.8 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan during fiscal 2008, plus money for the initial months of fiscal 2009, which begins Oct. 1. Blue Dogs objected to a plan that would have included a $52 billion education program for veterans but not offset that cost with new revenue. To meet the Blue Dogs’ demands for offsets, the bill is expected to propose a new 0.5 percent surtax on adjusted gross income above $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for joint filers. The tax, which probably will face serious opposition in the Senate, would raise an estimated $54 billion over 10 years, more than enough to pay for the education benefits.

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   by Congressional Quarterly

The Senate defied the White House Tuesday with a bipartisan vote to require a temporary halt to the oil deposits in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as the House prepared to pass its own mandate later in the day. The Senate by 97-1 adopted an amendment to unrelated legislation that would temporarily suspend shipments to the SPR. But when Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., tried to call up a freestanding bill that contained a similar temporary halt, in hopes that the House could clear the bill for the White House within 24 hours, Republicans objected. “Stop putting oil underground,” urged Byron L. Dorgan , D-N.D. “We can increase the supply by 70,000 barrels a day of sweet light crude, the most valuable oil, instead of putting it underground.” The House planned to vote later on a freestanding bill under suspension of the rules, an expedited procedure that bars amendments and requires a two-thirds majority for passage. Dorgan said he also will offer the SPR provision as an amendment during a Thursday markup of the emergency supplemental war funding bill, which is expected to make it to the president’s desk within a few weeks. “It’s more steps as an amendment on flood insurance. It’s faster on the supplemental,” said Dorgan. The White House opposes any suspension of oil deposits in the SPR. President Bush argues that such a step would have little or no affect on gasoline prices, given the tiny fraction of world oil supplies that would be freed up.

Senate to Take a Shot at Energy Price Surge

May 12, 2008

   by Congressional Quarterly

The Senate will be the forum Tuesday for an initial exchange of partisan fire over what to do about this year’s soaring gasoline prices and the rising world demand for energy. Using an unrelated flood insurance bill as their vehicle, Democrats led by Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., will offer an amendment to temporarily halt the flow of expensive crude oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Proponents say it makes no sense to keep filling the reserve at a time when supplies are tight and prices rising. Although the Bush administration opposes the measure, it has broad bipartisan support and is likely to be adopted. The same is not true of a Republican amendment to be offered by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., that recycles a number of GOP proposals for expanding domestic oil and gas supplies, all of which have been rejected in prior years. Topping the list is a proposal to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. With environmentalists vehemently opposed to drilling in the pristine North Slope area about 100 miles east of the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay, Congress has repeatedly refused to open the refuge to exploration. Also included in the GOP amendment are other proposals that failed during the 12 years Republicans controlled Congress before 2007. These include easing environmental regulations to encourage construction of new or expanded refineries, and relaxing restrictions on offshore oil and gas drilling. Both of the amendments will be considered under an agreement that requires 60 votes for adoption instead of a simple majority of the 100-member Senate.

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